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   Bury RUFC 3rd 7 Eccles RUFC 3rd 7
The injury jinx struck the third team at Bury yet again with second row Ben Chapman breaking his ankle in the week of his eighteenth birthday this following on from Mike Farne breaking his leg against their second string earlier in the season . Eccles had much the better of the first half having more of the possession and the territorial advantage posing a threat with each attack whilst providing a solid defence with centre Steve Bagnall serving up a man of the match performance tackling and stopping all who came his way no matter how big. Eccles took a while despite coming close a number of times to finally breach the home defence with success as scrum half Reece James broke from halfway before passing to flanker with the" veteran legs" Stuart Smith who finding a return pass blocked found space on the inside to high step a tackle before speeding under the posts to score with James adding the conversion. Bury tried to reply with forward power primarily usuing their giant prop to attempt to breach the visitors line though was once stopped in his tracks by a crunching tackle from prop James Cunningham .Fullback Brendan Cullen was again on form running back Bury's kicks and creating promising opportunities for the Eccles backs but further tries just would not come .Minutes before the interval the forwards worked hard and the scoring chance finally beckoned but as Chapman drove forward for line he was brought down tantilisingly short and in the crush of bodies the jinx struck . The half time whistle was immediately blown but then a lengthy delay followed as Ben was treated before removal to hospital and Eccles had to reorganise with only one replacement as the other had already replaced the injured wing Iain Rothwell.Bury also rang the changes with inumerable replacements on the side line to such an extent that they changed threequarters of the pack in the second period. On recommencement of play Bury tore into the fray with renewed vigour whilst Eccles became a bit ragged having to defend for most of that half. A change of putting Nick Titley at number two in the lineout proved inspired as it cut down the amount of possession the home side had garnered up to that point. Despite tremendous defence something had to give and Bury managed to squeeze in from a try in the corner with added conversion tieing up the scores. Both teams had a failed penalty attempt apiece to snatch the lead before Eccles rallied with a late surge and almost snatched victory as a James panalty fell agonisingly just under the. crossbar This was not a case of points dropped but a point gained for the team showed great spirit and tackled their hearts out despite misfortune of that injury and stuck to their task despite all those fresh legs thrown on by their opponents. Source: Eccles RUFC. Due to problems with spam only SalfordOnline members can now leave comments. Becoming a member of SalfordOnline only takes a minute, just hit the red Join Us button at the top right hand side of the page to create your Personal account. Got a news story? Need help with publicity for an event in Salford? Send it to newsdesk@salfordonline.com or call the SalfordOnline newsdesk on 0161 789 5377. |
